Huskies offer Illinois OL prospect

Scott Eklund

02/14/2012

Washington continued it's quest to find the top offensive line prospects and recently extended an offer to Lincoln-Way West (New Lenox, Il.) OT Colin McGovern who has a bit of a tie to the Husky football program...

"I played for coach (Jimmie) Dougherty's dad my freshman season, so he was talking me up to the Washington coaches a lot and they just offered me," McGovern told Dawgman.com. "It's really exciting to me because I never dreamed I would become a national recruit like this.

"I always thought I could play D-1 footall, but to have a school from the Pac 12 come out and offer me this early is amazing."

While McGovern admits he doesn't have a lot of knowledge about the program, he did get the 411 from coach Dougherty.

"He talked about how they've rebounded from where they were a few years ago and have made bowls the past couple of years and that they have a new stadium on the way," McGovern noted. "He also said they'd be playing in the Seahawks' stadium (Centurylink Field) next year and then they'd be in their new stadium (in 2013)."

"(Michigan State) told me if I come up there on a visit that they will offer me too, so I'm trying to see if I can get that into my schedule," McGovern said. "My schedule is pretty crazy right now though. Over the next two months, pretty much every weekend I'll be visiting other schools, so that will be something that I have to see if I can fit it into it somewhere.

"I'm looking at possibly visiting Washington on April 28th (for Washington's Spring Game), but with finances and stuff, we'll have to see. It's really expensive right now."

So with the fact that Washington isn't a school he or his family can drive to, will that hurt the Huskies' chances?

"Honestly, distance won't play that big of a factor at all," McGovern said. "I mean, if two schools are even and I'm making my decision, that will play a small part in the decision, but not really.

"Number one for me is the education. Not only am I going there to play football, but I'm going to use my ability to play football to get myself the best education I can. I want to major in either Engineering or Business right now, so that will be something I really look at.

"The second thing could probably be the prestige of the program and then third, but this isn't that big of a deal, it would possibly be the conference they play in. I want to play big-time college football and if we are facing off against other big-time programs, that would be awesome."

McGovern has started since his sophomore season at left tackle for the Warriors who are mainly a run-first offense.

"I'd have to say I'm pretty aggressive and I'm probably more polished as a run-blocker right now," McGovern admitted. "We work in the pass a little, but we're mainly a running team on offense."

We will have more in the coming weeks and months as McGovern starts to make his unofficial trips to the schools he's most interested in.